Why go to Rio de Janeiro?

If you got in early and bagged tickets, then you’ll no doubt already be limbering and lambada-ing up for the biggest beach party in history. Alternatively, there are still packages available until next July via the official travel and ticketing agent, CoSport (cosport.com) – though they do come at eye-watering prices. But if you can’t get the dream ticket to the 100m or the beach volleyball, there are still several good reasons for being in Rio (and Brazil) during the Games and at other times in 2016.

One is value for money. Tourists who travelled to Brazil for the World Cup had to pay dearly for their caipirinhas and capoeira classes. In June 2014, £1 bought you 3.74 reais. But the Brazilian real has been one of the fastest-falling currencies among major economies this year and £1 is now worth 5.80 reais. That helps turn a week’s holiday into 10 or 11 days.

Rio’s legendary Maracana stadium Photo: GETTY

Rio has been preparing for the Games since 2009 when they were announced. The downtown area, in particular, has been spruced up, and some off-radar areas, such as the suburb of Barra da Tijuca, are now firmly on the visitor map. The Museum of Tomorrow, designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, opened to the public yesterday in the redeveloped port district.

Despite occasional panics, venues are progressing and test events are now in full swing. Work on the underground Metro railway is likely to go down to the wire, but other transport systems are on schedule.

Airbnb and other agencies have widened the range of accommodation available, with affordable options in areas away from the beach and even in the smarter, safer edges of favelas.

There are still plenty of flights available during the Games, including direct British Airways services from around £1,100 return or via Sao Paulo with TAM for £775 return via Opodo.

Whether you are off to support family or your nation, or just want to hang around, the following guide will help you to get oriented, get partying or, if it all proves too much, get away from the Olympic hoopla with the minimum of fuss.

Construction of a massive new waterfront development called Porto Maravilha is underway Photo: GETTY

Olympic Games test events

If you’re visiting Rio before the games, keep an ear out for test events, which are used to trial the venues and infrastructure. There is boxing and tennis in December and no fewer than 23 events, including powerlifting, rugby and Paralympic athletics, between January and May 2016. See aquecerio.com/en/competition for full programme details.

Beach action in Rio

From August 6-18, Copacabana beach will be the location for beach volleyball contests (from 10am until almost 1am). The cycling road races will pass Ipanema and Copacabana on August 6 (men’s) and August 7 (women’s). The inshore waters off the Lagoa and Gloria neighbourhoods will host the rowing and canoe sprint events, and the sailing competitions, respectively. Details at rio2016.com.

Consider flying via another city, such as Brasilia Photo: AP/FOTOLIA

Public screenings of the 2016 Games

Considered the birthplace of samba, Madureira Park, in the north of Rio, is the location of the Olympic rings, transferred here from Newcastle’s Tyne Bridge. The park, Rio’s third largest, will be the site of one of three giant screens for watching events. The other two sites are the seafront in the port area and at the Sports Centre Miecimo da Silva, in Campo Grande, in the west of the city.

Public transport in Rio

Needless to say, Rio’s insane morning rush-hour will be significantly worse during the competition. On the upside, new infrastructure should make the city friendlier to non-drivers before, during and after the Games.

A rapid transit bus system, the BRT Transcarioca (brtrio.com), has been connecting downtown Rio with the airports and with the outlying suburb of Barra da Tijuca since the World Cup in 2014.

From April 2016, a new light-rail system known as the VLT should start operating; Rio will become only the second city after Dubai to employ the French-built tram-like vehicle powered from the tracks and requiring no overhead cables.

Airbnb currently offers around a thousand private homestay options in Rio Photo: AP/FOTOLIA

Easy escapes from Rio

The Games fall in southern Brazil’s so-called winter, when daytime temperatures can still be in the mid-20s. It rains less in August than in the peak holiday season (January-March), making it an ideal time for road trips.

Lots of visitors combine a stay in Rio with a flying visit to the Amazon, Pantanal or northern beaches, but there are plenty of overland options close to the city.

Rio’s super-rich take choppers to the peninsula of Buzios, but the bus or car journey across the Rio-Niteroi bridge affords an opportunity to take in the dramatic sweep of Guanabara Bay as well as the UFO-shaped Contemporary Art Museum, designed by Brasilia-architect Oscar Niemeyer. It’s about 108 miles or around 2½ hours by road to Buzios, a former fishing village until the Sixties, when it was “discovered” by Brigitte Bardot. More than 15 beaches – many protected by rocky coves – are backed by resorts filled with swanky restaurants and bars, luxury villas, boutiques and romantic pousadas.

Ilha Grande

It’s 96 miles along the lush Costa Verde to Angra dos Reis. The town is no great shakes as the port has grown big and dirty, but it is the place to make the 80-minute ferry ride to Ilha Grande, a small, traffic-free subtropical island where there is easy hiking on clearly marked trails around the edge of the forest, hopping as you go from beach to beach. Accommodation is around the edges – sea views assured.

Trying to decide what not to love about this colonial town on the Costa Verde – 150 miles south of Copacabana – is tricky. Paraty has gorgeous restaurants for all budgets and has more candlelit niches for romancing couples than it really needs. It has cobblestone streets that deter fast cars – and drivers in general. It even has a cool little literary festival.

Petropolis

The mountain retreat of choice for Rio’s moneyed middle classes was once a favourite with Dom Pedro II, the nation’s 19th-century ruler, who moved his imperial court there during the summer months. Petropolis has a distinctly European feel – with picturesque parks, alpine architecture, vintage street lamps, and horses and carriage. There are dozens of pretty pousadas, a local brewery that runs tours and tastings, and well-marked trails that head off into the neighbouring hills.

Next summer promises to be Rio’s biggest beach party Photo: AP/FOTOLIA